One of the things that got me into playing chess was solving the chess puzzles in our local newspaper. They're pretty fun, usually revolving around how to either create a fork (an attack on two pieces at the same time) or end a game by checkmate. Sometimes they're created by chess theorists, but sometimes they also come from real life games.

This one is a bit of both. I'm sure somebody else has noticed this, but the chess puzzle given here is from my own analysis of the game found at Chessgames.com. In this game, Gaprindashvili vs. Veroci-Petronic (1974), women's world chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili (white) passed up a possible checkmate for a draw by perpetual check. From the position given, it's white to move and mate in 4.

Here are three classic puzzles from Sam Loyd, and a continuation conceived by Friedrich Amelung.

The King of Sweden, Karl XII, is on campaign against the Turks. In between battles he plays chess against one of his most brilliant generals. In one of these games, they arrived at the following position. Karl XII declared mate in three.

Don't cheat!

1. Rxg3 Bxg3
2. Nf3 Be1
3. g4#

As they were playing, a Turkish bullet took the white Knight clean off the board. Without missing a beat, King Karl XII declared mate in four!

Don't cheat!

1. hxg3 Bd4
2. Rg4 Bf6
3. Rh4+ Bxh4
4. g4#

Then a second bullet flew by and struck the h2 Pawn from the board. Karl XII, still unflappable, simply declared mate in five.

Don't cheat!

1. Rb7 Bd4
2. Rb1 Bf6
3. Rh1+ Bh4
4. Rh2 gxh2
5. g4#

Then the general said, with a wry smile, "What a pity, Your Majesty, that the first bullet didn't take the Rook off the board, rather than the Knight." Karl XII replied, with a beatific smile of his own, "Then I would have just declared mate in six."

Don't cheat!

1. Nf3 Be1
2. Nxe1 Kh4
3. h3 Kh5
4. Nd3 Kh4
5. Nf4 h5
6. Ng6#

Here are the layouts of the boards, as given by Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN). Just copy and paste, then go to ChessUp.net and enter it there and try to figure out the solution online.

I can't do stuff like this on GameKnot. The ruthless efficiency of their computers will not let me, so I'm going to post my puzzle here, and a stripped down version there.

This arose from a game I'm playing right now where the player is in zugzwang, an arrangement where every choice of moves is bad. In this case, not only are the moves bad, they're fatal: every move leads to checkmate.

While I was working on the problem of how to efficiently checkmate my opponent, I came across this pleasing line which passes up a possible mate in three moves. The object of this puzzle is to checkmate white's king in 11 moves, while forcing him across the board. Take white's king on a tour.

There was this wonderful chess book I read as a kid, I don't remember the author or the name, but it was a big (> 8.5x11) paperback about an inch thick.

It was pretty solid, but... It tended to assume consistent flawless play, and I think it's where I picked up the phrase, regarding an opening gambit, "The lost pawn cannot be regained. Black will lose in due course."

__________________Hear me / and if I close my mind in fear / please pry it openSee me / and if my face becomes sincere / bewareHold me / and when I start to come undone / stitch me togetherSave me / and when you see me strut / remind me of what left this outlaw torn

__________________Hear me / and if I close my mind in fear / please pry it openSee me / and if my face becomes sincere / bewareHold me / and when I start to come undone / stitch me togetherSave me / and when you see me strut / remind me of what left this outlaw torn

No, because black's Queen cannot jump over pieces. The only way she can stand in defense of her King is to block the threat from white's Queen on the g5 square.

Secondly, pawns can capture one square diagonally to them. That's what gives the second check in the sequence its force. So if the black King is on h4, a pawn on g3 threatens immediate capture. In this case, he cannot capture pawns on g3 or h3 to escape check, because that would be putting himself in check from white's King (who can capture one square around him in every possible direction). He cannot move to h5, because he would be in check from the pawn on g4. He cannot capture the pawn on g4 because of the pawn at h3. In short, he's boxed in by pawns on every side and cannot eliminate the threat to the square he's sitting on. That's checkmate.

No, because black's Queen cannot jump over pieces. The only way she can stand in defense of her King is to block the threat from white's Queen on the g5 square.

Secondly, pawns can capture one square diagonally to them. That's what gives the second check in the sequence its force. So if the black King is on h4, a pawn on g3 threatens immediate capture. In this case, he cannot capture pawns on g3 or h3 to escape check, because that would be putting himself in check from white's King (who can capture one square around him in every possible direction). He cannot move to h5, because he would be in check from the pawn on g4. He cannot capture the pawn on g4 because of the pawn at h3. In short, he's boxed in by pawns on every side and cannot eliminate the threat to the square he's sitting on. That's checkmate.

Doh! I somehow failed to realize that, after moving, the King would be on a different square. I just read that totally wrong, I think. So I was trying to find a square the queen could move to that would put the king in check where he WAS.

__________________Hear me / and if I close my mind in fear / please pry it openSee me / and if my face becomes sincere / bewareHold me / and when I start to come undone / stitch me togetherSave me / and when you see me strut / remind me of what left this outlaw torn

Here's a puzzle which is impossible to do at GameKnot. The position of the two knights alone guarantees mate in 2 (e.g. Nh6+ Kh8, Ng6#). The object is to move your c2 pawn up the gauntlet of black pawns and not lose nor capture a single piece, then checkmate the king with your pawn in the last move.

This is another puzzle you can't do at GameKnot—can anyone tell I'm irritated with their puzzle system yet?—despite being an important element of chess. The object of this puzzle is not to checkmate the opponent, but to gain an advantage.

The reason this is important is illustrated by the fact that the position below is where the person playing white (then rated 1733) resigned the game. What he shouldcould have done is taken what might have proved a game-winning advantage. Can you tell what shouldcan be done?

Don't cheat!

1. Bg5+
2. Bxd8, capturing Black's queen
3. 0-0-0 is the best next move for White, bringing his rook on the d-file

I am so embarrassed. It was the person who played Black here who was rated 1733 and was the one who resigned the game. But it's still a nice illustration in grabbing the advantage.

Here's a pretty puzzle, from Sam Loyd. It's actually surprisingly easy, if one applies a bit of reasoning to the subject.

On which square does the black king have to stand for white to achieve checkmate in three from white's starting position (all the pawns on the front rank, and all the rest of the pieces on the back rank), assuming no other black pieces are on the board?

Here's a beautiful mate from a game with Mikhail Tal (White) vs. Johann Hjartarson (Black), played in Reykjavik in 1987. In the actual game, it was white to move and mate in four from the position below, and Hjartarson resigned one move away from mate.

Don't cheat!

1. Ng4+ disc. ch. Kf7
2. Nh6+ Ke7
3. Ng8+ Kf7
4. Ng5#

Hjartarson could have delayed the checkmate by one move with Qd4, but that would have thrown away any chance he had to make mate in one (Qh1#) in case Tal slipped up and would have sacrificed a queen for nothing, because after Qxd4+ the mating threat resumes.

Here's a checkmate problem from one of my other games. The challenge here is to checkmate without going into perpetual check (three moves back-and-forth that replicate the board position), allowing the king to escape the danger zone, or allowing any of the sizeable army left to come to the king's aid.

Here's a very attractive mate from the match NN vs. Adolf Anderssen, 1872. NN is commonly thought to stand for "no name", but it's really an abbreviation of the Latin nomen nescio, literally "I do not know the name". NN in chess matches stands for an anonymous player, possibly an amateur. In the internet age, NN is frequently used to designate someone playing under a nickname.

From the position given below, it's Black to move and mate in four.

Don't cheat!

Solution:

1. ... Bg2+
2. Rxg2 Qf1+
3. Rg1 Ng3+
4. hxg3 Qh3#

There is a shorter mate if and only if the rook takes the knight at g3, thus:

Here's an anti-stalemate puzzle of my own composition. I really hate seeing games in won positions end in stalemate.

From the position below, it's Black to move and mate in three.

Don't cheat!

Solutions:
1. ... f1=N+
2. Kh1 Qf3+
3. Kg1 h2#

or

3. Rg2 Qxg2#

So why is this an anti-stalemate problem? Well, if one goes the most natural route and promotes the pawn to a queen, the king will be trapped. He will not be in check, but he will not be able to move off the square on which he is in check. So the natural move for the player who wants to spin the proceedings out as much as possible would be to play Rf8+ or Rg6+. Now, if Black took the rook with his king, then it would be stalemate. 1. ... Qf4+, 2. Rg3 and then f1=Q is another stalemate situation.

The wisest course would be to move Kg5 or Ke5, then the rook would take the recently promoted queen. Then Black's best move would be Qe2+, forcing the king to move. The White king's move would be naturally Kxh3, and the Queen would play Qxf1+. Black would be left with a won position again, but the complications that result from a pawn promotion to queen would mean that this isn't mate in three. Promoting to a bishop is mate in seven, and promoting to a rook creates the same complexities that promoting to a queen would cause, but worse.

The fun of this puzzle is that there are so many checkmate possibilities. The king is on e5, and the major and minor pieces are in their starting positions, with the placement of the bishops and knights reversed. On GameKnot, where I saw this puzzle, four people including the originator posted solutions before I did, and I was still able to find some new ones. I'll post one of mine as a solution, but try to find your own.

Probably a dumb question, but why not block with the knight on the first move?

__________________Hear me / and if I close my mind in fear / please pry it openSee me / and if my face becomes sincere / bewareHold me / and when I start to come undone / stitch me togetherSave me / and when you see me strut / remind me of what left this outlaw torn

Probably a dumb question, but why not block with the knight on the first move?

It would have been an instant checkmate. The only knight in a position to block the check is on h5.

So:

1. Ng4+ disc. ch. Nf6
2. Qxf6#

The king wouldn't be able to go on f8 because of rook and queen, h8 because of rook and queen, and g8 because of the rook alone. He couldn't escape to f7 because of the queen. He couldn't capture the queen on f6 because she's protected by the knight on g4, which is also cutting off his retreat to h6.